Celebrating the UK’s computer pioneers

The computer seems the very essence of the modern world, especially as the gadgets we sit before and carry around shrink as fast as they become more powerful.

But if truth be told the computer has had a long and honourable history that stretches back to the closing years of the World War II.

And, say conservations and computer history enthusiasts, Britain played a big part in the development of the modern computer.

“The layman when asked about the introduction of steam power will usually reel off Newcomen, Watt and Trevithick,” said Chris Burton, of the Computer Conservation Society.

“But when it comes to computer pioneers they are absolutely baffled,” he said. “They have no idea.”